


Honeybee

by Cutetiger40



Category: Fallout (Video Games)
Genre: Animals, Deathclaws, Ghouls, the Black Dusters, the Cornheads, the Honorbound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-10 20:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12307161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cutetiger40/pseuds/Cutetiger40
Summary: In this Fallout story, an Outsider is saved by the people of Post-Apocalyptic Indiana and plans to repay them in kind. Their idea was sparked by the blueprints someone made that died in Vault 57. All they have to do is follow the prefabricated plan, right?





	1. The Outsider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm keeping the Outsider gender neutral so people can imagine their own person, kinda like the Fallout series does. Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

In the distance, a figure walked on the broken road, barely able to stay on their feet as they stumbled from piece to piece on the crumbling path, trying not to trip. Blood that dripped from fresh wounds soaked their dirty, tattered clothing that barely held together. As they moved it became more difficult to breathe, and their labored breathing turned to wheezing the farther they walked. Soon, their steps became lethargic, too heavy to lift up and then refused to move any further. The figure dropped to their knees and fell on the hot, black pavement, the scorching afternoon sun beating on them. 

 

A mother and daughter tended to the garden, gathering the ripe food and tending to the flowers. Though the flowers made the surroundings a bit more bearable, the broken and boarded up houses made it like any other place. Around the court were five houses, yet only three houses were habitable. The three houses homed three families named the Smith's, the Hamilton's, and the Kirkland's. The Smiths are two husbands with no children, though they treat everybody else like they're their family. The Hamiltons are a mother and father and two sons. They're a reclusive family, friendly but not all that outgoing. The Kirkland family consist of a mother, a daughter, and a young son. The family's been there the longest, always taking in and helping new people. 

A little boy, playing in front of the Kirkland's home, held a long stick like a sword, attacking his enemies. His mother wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, smearing dirt on her. She looked over the garden and sighed contently. 

"Valerie, Jackson," the mother asked her two kids, "can you please go to the well and fetch me some water for the plants, please?" Jackson dropped his stick and whined, stomping his feet with a huff. 

"But Mom! Why can't Valerie do it alone?" He pointed to Valerie, who shook her head at Jackson's antics. With a sigh the mother explained her reason. 

"Because, Jackson, we always travel at least in two's. It's safer that way. Besides, you're old enough to start helping around the place. We need all the help we can get." Jackson groaned and agreed to go, but only to protect his older sister. Valerie rolled her eyes and smiled. 

The well, which was the main source of water for the three families, wasn't far from the community. Its stones were a bit out of place, and the wood is a bit chipped, but it still works. With buckets in hand and Valerie holding her golf club, the siblings walked to the old well. As they got closer to the well Valerie noticed something nearby. She held her palm against Jackson's chest, telling him to stay there with that action. Putting down her bucket quietly, she held tight to her golf club and slowly approached the figure, ready to swing. 

On the path that was near the well, she found out that the figure was a badly wounded person. Valerie, still cautious, slowly walked to them and poked the body with her golf club. Nothing happened. She kneeled down and put two fingers together and slowly set them on the person's neck, trying to see if they're alive. Though slow and weak, there was a pulse. Valerie yelled out to her little brother, telling him to go get Gage and Vern. Jackson, after hearing Valerie, ran to the houses to get the couple. 

Gage and Vern Smith, as well as the children's mother, came running to Valerie and the wounded. Valerie moved away from the person, though still hovering around them and her mother, and the mother then looked over the person to see if it was okay to lift them, so they could take them to her house. She may not be the best doctor but she can still help. As she looked over them Vern started to talk. 

"So, Kasey, are they worth saving. I mean, no, no, not like that, I mean if you treat them will they survive?" Vern was wringing his hands, worried for the person's life. Gage put his arm around Vern to comfort him. 

"We won't really know until we try," Kasey, the mother of the children, replied. "I believe they can be moved to Jackson's room. Don't complain, Jackson, because I don't want to hear it," she pointed and looked at her son. She then looked at Vern. "Anyway, I can treat them while they're resting there. Thank you, Valerie and Jackson, for telling us about them." Kasey smiled at her children as she stood up. Gage went over to the wounded and picked them up like they weighed nothing. The group rushed back to the Kirkland's house, the wounded person in tow and the now filled buckets of water, carried by the children. 

Kasey opened the door to her home so Gage and the others could enter. When the group entered the home, music could be heard from the radio in the living room. Inside the home there were simple decorations to try and brighten the apocalyptic stains. Broken but usable chairs, damaged tables, ripped up sofas, and complete to somewhat damaged art pieces decorated the home. Passing through the mud room, the living room, and then the dining room, the group went in Jackson's room. 

Jackson's room had many posters, mostly of Captain Cosmos, rocket toys, baseballs, and a baseball bat. His bed was in the corner of the room, blankets and pillows sloppily put together, trying to pass as clean and tidy. Gage set the wounded stranger lightly on the bed. 

"Valerie, dear, can you get my med-kit? And Jackson, pour some of the water into a smaller bucket, please," Kasey started undressing the stranger to see their wounds completely. "The rest of you, please leave, I need to concentrate." When her children came back she started to work.


	2. The Cornstalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson finds something that he wants to show the stranger, or The Outsider, as he calls them, and a problem happens because of it. Kasey, the children's mother, teaches them a lesson because of it.

A long month has passed since the settlement found the stranger, hurt and on the brink of death. In the beginning they stayed bedridden, barely able to move from their wounds. Their stab wounds burned and stung when Kasey cleaned and treated them with the medical supplies found in the nearby Vault. Though none of their injuries, from knives or from bullets, had pierced any vital organs, the blood loss and dehydration still made an IV important. Slowly the stranger gained their strength back and was able to help around the house.

As they rested, Jackson visited them often, even when his mother was changing their bandages and other medical equipment. In the beginning it was to get out of doing chores around town. But in time, they would talk for hours on end, learning about each other and the town, though it was Jackson doing most of the talking and asking the questions.

Eventually, the stranger started to slowly gain their strength back and they were able to help, first just around the house, but in time, they were well enough to help around town.

It was the middle of the day, which meant that everyone was up and doing chores. It also meant that Jackson was soon to enter the room. When he did come in, he held in his hand his tan, patchy backpack. He usually has the backpack when he has something to show his new friend. Closing the door, he turned on the small lamp, the light shining on faded off-white paint and the posters on the walls.

"Hey, hey, Outsider!" Jackson said cheerfully, using the nickname he'd given the stranger. He had once asked what he should them, what their name was, and they had said they didn't remember their name or much of anything else. Jackson then thought about it and said that he'll call them the Outsider because, "it sounds like a superhero name!" Jackson sets his backpack on the ground in front of the Outsider and the bed after closing the door.

"Look what I found outside," Jackson said, all but bouncing with excitement as he set his backpack on the ground in front of the bed. He opened the backpack and after searching through it for a moment, he pulled out a gun with a pleased 'a-ha!'. Playfully, Jackson pointed it at the Outsider after waving it around randomly for a moment. 

Jackson was so engrossed in playing with his new 'toy' that he didn't see the pace of the Outsider's breathing begin to quicken - before he realized what was happening, the Outsider had tackled him and grabbed at the gun, trying to take it from his hands. But after a few more seconds of struggle, the gun went off - missing both of them completely but putting a hole through one of Jackson's posts, going almost completely through the wall.

The sound of the shot caused Jackson to cover ringing ears, and mere moments after the bullet flew from the gun, a frantic Kasey had burst through the door.

"What the hell happened here?!" she screamed, her hand still on the door handle, "is everyone okay?" She let go of the door and rushed to her son, putting her hands up to cup his face. After making sure he was fine, she looked to the Outsider with a rough look and demanded to know, and how they'd gotten the gun. Right behind Kasey, Valerie came rushing in, her arms coated in dirt from working in the garden. Before the Outsider could respond Jackson cut in, telling her everything:

"It wasn't Outsider's fault! I found it while playing in the yard. I wanted to show them the gun, that's all. Maybe they could've shown me how to shoot, I don't know." Jackson looked down and shuffled his feet, trying not to meet her gaze. Kasey sighed and her shoulders fell. She bent down to her son's level and put her hand on his shoulder.  
"Jackson," she started, "you have to be careful. These aren't toys, they're dangerous weapons. Besides, you're only nine years old. You should still have a chance to be a child." Kasey gave a small smile to her son, squeezing his shoulder lightly in reassurance. Valerie interrupted the moment.

"Mom, I know you want to protect us from the outside world," Valerie moved from the doorway to be seen fully, "but he needs to learn how to protect himself. You taught me how to fight, why not teach him?" She waved her arms towards Jackson while talking. "Even if you tell him no, he's gonna do it anyway, you do realize that, right? Remember when you told him to put the scraps in the compost but he gave it to hungry mole rats instead, which made them come to the house even more? Or when you told him not to go over where the rabid dogs were but went over there later, thinking they won't hurt him because, and I quote, 'I love animals and animals love me.' Also, another time-" Before she could finish Kasey cut her off.

"Okay! Okay, I get it. What would your father think of this?" Kasey huffed, pursing her lips. She let go of Jackson's shoulder and stood up. After picking up the gun she walked towards the door. She stopped mid-step and looked at the gun, turning it over and studying it. "Let me think about this... I'll be in garden." She walked out the door and left the others in the room.

"Gee, that went well," Valerie remarked quietly. "Also, why did you call them Outsider?" She looked at Jackson with furrowed brows.

"Apparently," Outsider spoke up, their throat hoarse and scratchy, "I'm a superhero." They gave a small, but kind smile.

 

Two days later and there has been no word about Jackson being allowed to learn how to use a gun. Whenever Jackson or Valerie brought it up, their mother would deflect the question or just ignore it plain out. The Outsider didn't bring it up in front of the mother, as it wasn't their place to intervene. They would like to help the kid but it's up to the mother to make the final decision.

Jackson was sweeping the floor, Valerie was doing the laundry, and Outsider, while sitting on the couch, was folding the clean clothes when Kasey opened and walked through the door. Kasey was standing up straight, though she looked a little apprehensive. She drew in a long, slow breath and let it go.

"I need the three of you to follow me, please," she said as she nodded her head towards the door. Jackson, curious but a little hesitant, set the broom down on the floor. Valerie dried her hands off and helped Outsider up from the couch and walk.

Following Kasey, the three of them walked out the door, past the backyard garden, and out of the little settlement and into the open wasteland. Jackson, very confused, elbowed his sister and raised his hands, as if to ask what was going on. His sister shrugged her shoulders by way of reply.

Abruptly, Kasey stopped in front of a fence. Beside the fence was two four-packs of milk bottles, multiple empty Nuka Cola bottles, and bags filled with rusted and bent metal cans. A double-barreled shotgun was propped up against the fence, and two 10mm pistols were next to the bags. Kasey went over to the shotgun and picked up. She looked at the gun and hesitantly looked back up towards her children.

"The two of you," she started, "know that this double-barrel shotgun was your father's and that you are not to touch it. He named it Cornstalk because of his past, and it is to stay on the wall except in case of emergency." She then set it down and picked up the other two guns. "These are 10mm pistols, and right now they're empty. Me and Outsider here," a small, but genuine, smile spread across her face, "will help you learn how to reload them. Once the two of you get a hang of it, we'll show you how to shoot properly. Isn't that right?" She looks towards the Outsider, who nodded their head in agreement. "Let's get started, shall we?"


End file.
